1 Thessalonians 4:4

each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

ASV

that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

YLT

that each of you know his own vessel to possess in sanctification and honour,

DBT

that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour,

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Commentary voices

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Voices4

On this verse

Warn the Lord's people, therefore, and beg them to abound in good works, to renounce vice, not to enkindle the fires of passion—I shall not say on the sabbath, but in every season. Let them not destroy their bodies. Let there be no immorality and uncleanness in the servants of God, because we are the servants of the unblemished Son of God. Let each one know himself and possess his vessel, and when the soil of the body has been ploughed, let him wait for the fruit in due season. Let his hand not cultivate thorns and thistles.

Ambrose of Milan· Letter 2: To Constantius, 397patristic

Related commentary

That everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel,.... By which may be meant, either a man's wife, or his body, and it is not very easy to determine which, for the Jews call both by this name. Sometimes they call (p) a woman גולם, which the gloss says is a "vessel" unfinished. It is reported (q), that when R. Eleazar died, Rabbenu Hakkadosh would have married his widow, and she would not, because she was כלי של קדושה, "a vessel of holiness", greater than he.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

How to possess his vessel - Let every man use his wife for the purpose alone for which God created her, and instituted marriage. The word σκευοςanswers to the Hebrew כלי keli, which, though it signifies vessel in general, has several other meanings. That the rabbins frequently express wife by it, Schoettgen largely proves; and to me it appears very probable that the apostle uses it in that sense here. St. Peter calls the wife the weaker Vessel, 1Pe 3:7. Others think that the body is meant, which is the vessel in which the soul dwells.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

That every one know - For this requires knowledge, as well as chastity. To possess his vessel - His wife. In sanctification and honour - So as neither to dishonour God or himself, nor to obstruct, but further, holiness; remembering, marriage is not designed to inflame, but to conquer, natural desires.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755evangelical

Voices on this verse

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Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse — and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

17 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

1 Thessalonians 4:3
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
1 Corinthians 7:9
But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
1 Corinthians 6:15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
Esther 2:12
In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
1 Corinthians 7:2
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
Romans 6:19
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Acts 9:15
“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.
1 Corinthians 6:18–20
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

5 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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More cross-references5 further linked verses, grouped by book▾ open

Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.

1 Samuel1

1 Samuel 21:5David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I…

Romans1

Romans 9:21Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of…

2 Corinthians1

2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly…

Philippians1

Philippians 4:8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure,…

2 Timothy1

2 Timothy 2:20A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of…

Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
leads to
- 1 Peter 2:5
  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Romans 6:13
  Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of…
- Hebrews 13:15–16
  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
- Romans 6:19
  I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now…
- Ephesians 4:1
  As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
Through
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
leads to
- Colossians 3:19
  Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
- Genesis 2:23–24
  And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
Through
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
leads to
- Genesis 2:24
  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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